Upon a pale horse... (The Mists of Ravenloft)

Heroes on the road to their meeting...

Helen of Verbrek

Spring 747 – Helen awakens to the sound of vista chiri birds outside her window. She heads out to the usual spot she has encountered the Vistani all these years. There she meets with her friends Raul and Nicoleta who have just recently been married. She listens to tales and dances with them.

After the fires have died down, Madame Yvonne tells her that change is coming and that she must be prepared to meet her new destiny. “Follow the wandering spirit,” she cryptically advises.

When Helen returns home she finds that her family has been attacked by wolves and killed. She follows the tracks from her home to find her mother being toyed with by the snarling beasts and on the brink of death. She drives the wolves away and goes to her dying mother.

Villim shocked to discover that his captor is his older brother Eckhardt, that he was sent to capture and return to Falkovnia by his father, Wolfram. Eckhardt taunts him and says he is now running a mercenary company and is doing the dirty work for whoever pays him enough coin.

Ana is then tortured and disfigured by Eckhardt with the aid of a hideous brute referred to as “”/campaign/ravenloft-game/wikis/the%20thing/new" class=“create-wiki-page-link”>the thing".

The group escapes the run-down cell, but is barred from escaping from escaping by “the thing”. They are able to defeat the brute, but are still trapped in the below-ground prison. Eckhardt pours burning oil into the complex, forcing the group into the Mortigny sewers through a bloodstained trapdoor in the floor.

Heroes start a riot and nearly burn down a city

September 1, 747 – The agents of Louise Reiner give the group rooms at the luxurious Hotel d’Or in the River District of Mortigny. After having a chance to clean up the stench of the sewers out of their clothes, they are taken to meet Louise.

She asks them simple questions about their business in Mortigny and discovers that each of them is there seeking specific information. “Information is the true currency of Mortigny,” she tells them coyly, before offering to use her contacts to get them the answers they seek.

Heroes attend an expected wedding and another not-so-expected wedding

September 9, 747 – In the early hours of the morning on the day following the Castle Street Riots, tensions were still simmering. Following the orders of Jacqueline Reiner, Dominic Levigny pulled all of the city guard out of the Harbor District and barred all travel in the hopes that the various gangs and criminal elements would turn the district into a lawless pit and the people would blame Louise Reiner.

Louise turned to her associates who assisted her in overthrowing Gerard Le Mains. True to her word, she gave them each some information that they were seeking…

Heroes find horror and vengeance under the stars

Villim Steinadler (along with his companions Lydis, Helen, and Cara) were ambushed at the grave of Eckhardt Steinadler by his widow Nina Levigny and her bodyguards. Nina revealed that Eckhardt’s body was not buried there because she knew that Villim would try to steal it and take it back to Falkovnia. Of course, what she did not know was that Eckhardt was not dead, but in a magical slumber induced by a Vistani potion that Villim had put in his wedding drink.

Graveside Standoff

September 21, 747 – As both sides prepared to do battle, Villim was able to talk down Nina and her group, telling them it is not worth either side losing their lives over a empty box of dirt. She laughed and agreed, but let it slip that his body was really buried the in Levigny vault in the Society of Astrologers observatory tower.

Chaos!

September 23, 747 – The group rushed back to Louise’s manor where guards and servants rushed about trying to put out the flames. Before they could even enter the grounds they were greeted at the gates by Louise herself. Her silken green dress was stained with blood from a gash in her side and her eyes were full of fury.

Heroes defend a town under siege

Louise Reiner and her illegal mercenary army are hereby accused of treason against the sovereign nation of Richemulot. She has committed a coup d’etat on the legally appointed governance in the city of Mortigny and executed them without charge, trial, or authority.

LET IT BE KNOWNTHAT all citizens of Mortigny are hereby ordered to leave the city or face the wrath of the Grand Army of Richemulot. No quarter will be given to those who take up arms against their fellow citizens.

Heroes have an unexpected diversion courtesy of the Vistani

A surprise visitor

October 5, 747 – Upon returning to the city following the parlay with Jacqueline Reiner, Helen hears the familiar call of the vista chiri alerting her that the Vistani are close by. She excuses herself from the party and locates the gypsy wagon down in the harbor district. To her shock, the only Vistana who is present is her old friend Raul. Raul has left the caravan in his sorrow that his dear wife Nicoleta has died in childbirth. Raul shows Helen (whom he knows as Melantha) his newborn son, Nicco, who has fallen deeply ill. To Helen’s horror, Raul explains that the spirit of Nicoleta returns every night to attempt to nurse the baby.

That night they huddled around a warm fire while waiting for the spectral image of Nicoleta to appear. Just past midnight, Nicco awoke and began to wail as the mists rose around them… and then she appeared. Nicoleta, her lithe dancer’s body twisting through the mists and gliding into the camp. Raul sat transfixed, his eyes unable to leave the vision of his departed wife. Helen stepped forward to block her path.

Eight long years pass in the lands of the mists

Richemulot lies in chaos following the death of Jacqueline and Louise Reiner. This in compounded by the disappearance of Antoinette Reiner whom the people would rally behind. Several factions battle for control of the country, but ultimately the nation deteriorates into independent city-states.

Vilim Steinadler married Anja Drakov and the two returned home to Falkovnia. The Golden Lion Army, was called into service by Vlad Drakov for the 5th Dead Mans War. Vilim lead his troops in Darkon and quickly realized the futility of the war. He defied Drakov’s orders and retreated from the lines to save as many men as possible. In punishment, Vlad ordered his keep barred shut and all within (including his wife, child, and mother) burned alive. Vilim was never heard from again.